Feb 24, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
As reimbursement models shift, physician practice management companies (PPMCs) offer increased value and appeal for hospital-based physicians (HBPs)
Are physician practice management companies (PPMCs)—a hot trend during the 1990s—poised to make a comeback in this decade? Whether this healthcare business model can gain traction during the 2010s remains to be seen, but, of all physician specialties, pathologists are likely to be among the most skeptical, just as they were during the 1994-2000 heyday of PPMCs.
In the mid-1990s, such physician practice management companies as MedPartners, Phycor, and others raised billions of dollar to invest in both independent physician practices and hospital-based physician (HBP) groups. But not even 10 years later, competition for viable practices drove prices above sustainable levels and many PPMCs closed shop. (more…)
Feb 15, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina expands a website that allows consumers to check the prices charged by physicians; Clinical labs are watching the price transparency trend
Once again, a major health insurer has raised the stakes on transparency of the prices charged by physicians, hospitals, clinical laboratories, and anatomic pathology groups. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) recently expanded a website for its members that lists what the insurer pays to different providers for various clinical services.
The database is searchable. Members have been able to access it since January of 2015. The website lists 1,200 non-emergency procedures, along with the average price that BCBS pays for each one.
Physicians Also Want Price Transparency
Consumers want more transparency of the prices charged by providers. But they are not the only group pushing for it. In a surprising twist, physicians in North Carolina were supportive of having their prices posted on a public website. (more…)
May 8, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Developed by researchers at Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, the anemia test device is awaiting clearance by the FDA
New diagnostic technology may shift some hemoglobin testing for anemia out of clinical laboratories and into near-patient settings. It may also be possible to use this new diagnostic device for patient self-testing.
The developers describe this as a new, easy, inexpensive point-of-care test (POCT) that detects anemia. The device may be available as early as 2016. It is possible for the test to be used in situations where resources are low and illiteracy is high.
The new medical laboratory test is called AnemoCheck and was developed by scientists and students at Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. (more…)
May 1, 2015 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement
If bundled payment becomes more common in treatment of cancer, then anatomic pathologists need a strategy to demonstrate their clinical value to physicians and payers
MD Anderson Cancer Center and UnitedHealthcare (NYSE: UNH) announced a bundled payment agreement for the treatment of certain types of cancer. This development has implications for anatomic pathologist who provide cancer testing services to hospitals throughout the United States.
The new three-year pilot at MD Anderson’s Head and Neck Center in Houston, Texas, is the first use of a bundled payment model in a large, comprehensive cancer center. Officials say it is expected to lower costs while improving the quality of patient care and outcomes. As many as 150 patients with head and neck cancer who are enrolled in employer-sponsored UnitedHealthcare (UHC) plans will participate in the pilot.
“For the last five years, MD Anderson and its Institute for Cancer Care Innovation have been looking at how to best approach a single price for treating cancers. It is a complex question because cancer is a complex disease and each patient unique,” stated Thomas W. Feeley, M.D., Head of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, and Head of the Institute, in an MD Anderson news release. “Bundled pricing is something that patients and care providers want, and this is our first opportunity to better understand how we can manage costs without sacrificing quality care and patient outcomes.” (more…)
Aug 12, 2011 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Google Health is an electronic health record system that terminates on January 1, 2012.
It is notable that Google, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), on January 1, 2012, will shut down Google Health, its patient health record (PHR) platform. That announcement was made in June, so many pathologists and clinical laboratory managers may not realize that Google is exiting the PHR market.
On Google’s official blog, company officials stated their intention was “to retire two products that didn’t catch on the way we would have hoped, but did serve as influential models.”. Along with Google Health, the other product about to be discontinued is Google PowerMeter, a free energy monitoring platform, designed to help consumers cut energy usage and costs. Users can continue to download data stored on Google Health through January 1, 2013.
Growth in Users of Google Health Did Not Meet Company’s Expectations
The decision to discontinue its Google Health comes barely three years after the company launched the service. It hoped that Google Health would help healthcare consumers to make smarter choices. In May of last year Dark Daily reported that the number of Americans using PHRs doubled between 2008 and the end of 2009. News coverage of the Google Health story confirms that PHR use has increased within a narrow market segment of tech-savvy patients and providers, as well as with the growing numbers of consumers interested in fitness and wellness. But the number of Google Health users fell far short of the millions of PHR users that Google projected would sign up and use the service.
(more…)
